How to be Productive and Calm as a Busy Woman

Busy ladies, here are some strategies that can help you be productive and calm Does this sound familiar to you? Personally, as a busy woman (I'm a mom; maintaining relationships; keeping the house tidy; running my mental health private practice and mindset coaching business; write for my two blogs; assistant run coach, and preparing for … Continue reading How to be Productive and Calm as a Busy Woman →

Calming Through Your Five Senses by Using Self-Soothe Skills

Self-care is giving the world the best of you Self-soothe skills Self-Soothe is about calming through the senses, and the goal is to engage your senses in behaviors that are relaxing. As you practice self-soothe, allow judgements, stress, worries, and unhelpful thoughts to slide through your mind, and just be in the moment. This process … Continue reading Calming Through Your Five Senses by Using Self-Soothe Skills →

How to Get Through the Day When the World Seems to be Falling Apart

These 13 tips are specific to living through a pandemic (COVID-19) where there are multiple tragic events and crisis occurring at once on a worldwide scale. A brief overview of the destruction that COVID-19 has caused • People are ill and dying from a virus. • People are socially isolated from family and friends. • … Continue reading How to Get Through the Day When the World Seems to be Falling Apart →

IMPROVE Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

DBT Card Deck by Lane Pederson, PsyD, LP, DBTC - PESI Publishing and Media IMPROVE IMPROVE the Moment. The acronym IMPROVE makes life a little bit better when it is not going so well.During a crisis, you have two options. You can sink into the distress or invest in behaviors that might improve how you … Continue reading IMPROVE Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT) →

Wise Mind: ACCEPTS Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT)

DBT Card Deck by Lane Pederson, PsyD, LP, DBTC – PESI Publishing and Media Wise Mind: ACCEPTS The ACCEPTS acronym has skills that helps keep you busy and distracted when you would typically be preoccupied by a crisis. It is easy to dwell on what is going wrong, by focusing on the ACCEPTS behaviors, you … Continue reading Wise Mind: ACCEPTS Skill (Distress Tolerance from DBT) →

Distress Tolerance Skills for Managing Stress and Crisis (DBT)

Distress Tolerance (Dialectical Behavior Therapy) When people "cope" with stress and crisis, they find out ways (behaviors) that relieve stress, however, some of these ways come with heavy consequences. Examples of ineffective behaviors are drug and alcohol use, self-injury, gambling, spending money, and overeating.We can learn distress tolerance skills to effectively manage the stress and … Continue reading Distress Tolerance Skills for Managing Stress and Crisis (DBT) →

Mindfulness 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Grounding Technique

This is a popular grounding technique for children and adults. This technique engages all 5 senses, which reminds you of the present moment, and builds awareness. This is a calming technique that can help you get through tough or stressful situations. Taking a deep belly breath at the beginning and end of this activity can … Continue reading Mindfulness 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Grounding Technique →

What is Mindfulness and How to be More Mindful? (DBT)

What is mindfulness? Mindfulness is choosing to be aware of the present moment, on purpose, and in a non-judgmental way. When being mindful, our attention and focus is on whatever we choose to observe or do. In this moment, choose to focus your mind wherever you'd like it to be. Practice Maybe you focus on … Continue reading What is Mindfulness and How to be More Mindful? (DBT) →

Dialectics (DBT) for a Flexible Mind

What are dialectics? Dialectics relate to our theories and ideas, in terms of the OPPOSITE way we think. Here are some thinking patterns that we all experience, and get caught up in, it does us no favors to become stuck!:▪︎ "All-or-nothing" thoughts.▪︎ "Either-or" thoughts.▪︎ "Black-and-white terms."These examples of thoughts are called cognitive distortions. Instead of … Continue reading Dialectics (DBT) for a Flexible Mind →

Mindfulness Walk Activity

Are you "mind full" or "mindful"? Mindfulness and walking are highly beneficial to your mental health, especially when you do them routinely. Try combining them! Go on a walk. You can walk inside (yes, it still works) or outside, done alone, while walking the dog, or with another person. - just don't have a conversation … Continue reading Mindfulness Walk Activity →